After rare cancer diagnosis, Inuvik woman pushes for better vision care in the North

Ashley Morine had just moved to Inuvik with her husband when she suddenly lost peripheral vision in her left eye.

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It was September 2017. The dental hygienist was with a patient when it happened.

"I went to the hospital and they thought it was dry eye," said Morine, who said her eye looked normal.

She would later learn her loss of vision was caused by ocular melanoma a rare form of cancer.

Getting a diagnosis was a journey. Morine visited several doctors. After seeing an eye specialist in Yellowknife, she flew to Edmonton a month later to meet another doctor who specializes in eye cancer.

It took four months to get a diagnosis.

May is ocular melanoma awareness month. Morine hopes that by sharing her story, she can get more people thinking about this rare cancer, especially among people who live in isolated communities such as Inuvik.

"People need to have their eyes dilated anytime they have an eye exam," she said. "This cancer can be undetected if it's just a quick look in the eye."

According to the N.W.T. Department of Health and Social Services, there have been two diagnosed cases of ocular melanoma in the territory between 1992 and 2015.

Not only is it rare, it's tricky to diagnose.

No symptoms

Dr. Ezekiel Weis, an opthalmologist who has been treating Morine since her diagnosis, says most melanomas of the eyes don't cause any symptoms. Some, like Morine's, cause visual symptoms such as decreased or distorted vision, or flashing lights.

"In a population of one million people, we should see six cases a year," said Weis.

Ocular melanoma can be both vision- and life-threatening, but it can be treated if caught.

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This is why Morine says the territorial government should do more to make sure people in small communities, where there is no eye care specialist, have access to vision care.

"I didn't really know when the eye team came here," she said. "I've never seen signs or anything saying that the eye team is coming."

'My tumour is dead'

Morine was able to save her eye through a type of radiation called Brachytherapy. It's a surgical procedure where doctors implant a custom-made radioactive plaque on the surface of the eye, right next to the tumour.

According to Weis, the plaque remains in place for five to seven days, and the patient undergoes another surgery to remove it. Then, it takes about four to eight weeks to recover.

Now, Morine is cancer free.

"I just got back from my three-month-post Brachytherapy radiation check, and he told me that my tumour is dead," she said.

For the next couple of years, Morine will have to return to Edmonton to get her eyes checked every three months, and she will need intermittent monitoring for the rest of her life.

After everything she's been through, Morine is urging others not to neglect their eye health.

"If you aren't seeing [a specialist'sschedule] on a poster at the post office or at the hospital, you might just let it go," she said.

"I never thought I'd have cancer, I was a pretty healthy 27-year-old at the time."